a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Junkies helped by those who know what it's all about a recovering junkies-is the modus operandi for the titled organization located right on beautiful Venice beach. Expensive property to even stay at overnight now, it was quite wild during the days prior to the dawning of Aquarius. What could be preachy or a 60's version of a 1940's exploitation film ends up bring an engrossing drama with the usual variety if characters who come in every age, every gender, every nationality.A cast of veterans and newcomers mingle together in this raw expose of the counter culture that is still working overtime today to sober people up. Among the veterans are Edmund O'Brien and Richard Conte with Eartha Kitt at the height of her popularity, right before her real life controversy with President Johnson. Her character makes a speech in her very first scene that reeks of clichés and would be irritating and trite if it had been anybody else.The main story surrounds heroine junkie Alex Cord, coming down and desperate. By chance overhearing a public relations meeting going on, he is immediately drawn in, but angered to discover that one of the patient leaders is his former prison cellmate chuck Connors who planted heroine in Cord's locker. Falling in love with single mother patient Stella Stevens, Cord still won't open up, especially after he sees a Synanon meeting where Conte lays into Stevens, attacking her on every level that could insert a psychological knife with a squeeze of lemon following.While the elements of exploitation are overwhelming, there are subtle nuances that explore the vast insecurities and self hatred's of these pathetic characters. With film noir veterans O'Brien and Conte breathing down their charges necks, treating them like naughty children who need to be humiliated to do their chores. It's a mixed bag of serious human suffering and deliberate shock where the only way to cure them is to break them.

regarding Manson era, S. California and the drug issue.Suffice to say, this film is an interesting squib on the socio-political era of the late 1960's. While it offers no answers it gives the audience a glimpse into the times.Look for Jay Sebring (1969 victim of the Manson/Tex Watson murders), as well as Stella Stevens as a junkie in rehabilitation, she looks quite well put together. The actor portraying Zanke Albo, who is involved with Stevens is quite good as a heroin addict.Eartha Kitt looks lovely, is convincing as a drug addict at the end of the line, living at "Synanon", in Santa Monica California headquarters.The true story of Synanon itself has a very interesting back-story, apparently the founder Dieterich (well portrayed by an aging Edmond O'Brien) at one point had raised millions. Initially if one researches, the group had helped addicts, but later became a cult without good purpose.This film is often shown on satellite via Universal or MGM and I rate it a 9 because it is very interesting to those of us interested in 1960's American culture.Also, I will not call it "counter" culture because research into the political era shows how very divided this country was, and indeed, still is. Similar issues and divisiveness exist, even to this day.VERY interesting 9/10.

Dramatization of real-life Synanon House, a Santa Monica-based rehabilitation center for hardcore drug addicts (many of them recent parolees). Heroin-user Alex Cord butts heads with former prison adversary Chuck Conners, while Stella Stevens sorts out relations with her ex-husband and struggles to stay off the streets. A bit glamorous in its depiction of life in the gutter, perhaps due to the kicky fashions and the ocean-front locale, though director Richard Quine is quick to underline the narrative with bitterness and regret. Not as moving as it should have been, but still quite potent. Harry Stradling Jr.'s black-and-white cinematography is excellent, as is Neal Hefti's jazzy score. **1/2 from ****

Synanon was formed because there was pretty much nowhere an addict could find help back in the fifties. Even Alcoholics Anonymous wouldn't accept them. Heroin addicts were regarded as hopeless cases. In fact, the founder of Synanon came to believe addicts had to remain in a confined supportive community for the rest of their lives in order to avoid relapse. The movie is a remarkably realistic portrayal of what rehab was like for drug addicts back in the day. Countless Therapeutic Communities were patterned after Synanon. Residents who broke the rules underwent a variety of punishments: anything from wearing humiliating signs around their necks to digging "graves" 6 feet deep, 8 feet long and 4 feet wide every morning for a week. Until it was outlawed, sleep deprivation was a common punishment. A resident might be made to stay awake for 72 hours straight. This movie is a fascinating glimpse into the early days rehabilitation.